Various types of devices can be used to capture images of a surrounding physical environment. For example, a digital camera can include an array of optical sensors configured to receive rays of light that are focused via a set of one or more lenses. The light sensed by the optical sensors can then be converted into digital information representing an image of the physical environment from which the light is received.
Increasingly, digital image capture is being used to guide autonomous vehicle navigation systems. For example, a UAV with an onboard image capture device can be configured to capture images of the surrounding physical environment that are then used by an autonomous navigation system to estimate the position and orientation of the UAV within the physical environment. This process is generally referred to as visual odometry. The autonomous vehicle navigation system can then utilize these position and orientation estimates to guide the UAV through the physical environment.